Nakilat retrofits QMax's main engines to LNG fueling

OCTOBER 28, 2015 — MAN Diesel & Turbo reports that Nakilat, the shipping arm of Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, has become the first ship operator to convert a vessel's low speed marine diesel to use LNG as fuel.

The project collaborators, including MAN PrimeServ, installed the ME-GI system on the vessel at the shipyard in June 2015. The partner for the ME-GI fuel supply system is TGE Marine Gas Engineering GmbH,

Christian Ludwig, Head of Retrofit and Upgrades, MAN PrimeServ, said: "This is a fantastic milestone in our company's history. It is a lighthouse project, and there has been a remarkable partnership and cooperation through this historic conversion. Our ME-GI order book now stands at 140 orders – for different vessel sizes and applications, which we see as a compelling case for our technology to be designated the industry standard."

Nakilat Managing Director Eng. Abdullah Al-Sulaiti, said, "The success of the ME-GI project is the culmination of years of cooperation with Qatargas, RasGas and MAN Diesel & Turbo as turnkey project manager. In late 2013, Nakilat worked with our charterers to implement a pilot conversion on Q-Max Rasheeda, the first retrofit ME-GI project ever to be implemented in the marine industry. This is a milestone moment for all involved parties."

MAN Diesel & Turbo reports that the vessel's ME-GI units have displayed a seamless change between fuel-oil and gas operation – a key characteristic of the ME-GI technology.